Q&A with Local Author Steve Almond

Arlington writer Steve Almond has written about candy, sex, politics and parenthood over the years, but his latest novel – "Rock and Roll will Save Your Life" – reveals yet another side– the "drooling fantatical" one.

A "drooling fantatic" can be recognized, says Almond, by his lack of musical and dance skill as well as his undying devotion and "embarrassingly regressive" behavior.

We learn this in the first few pages of Almond's latest book, released in April and soon we are drawn into a world that is very often, laugh out loud (not LOL) funny, especially Almond's dissection of everyone's favorite song: "Africa" by Toto.

This Thursday, July 8, from 8-11 p.m., Almond will be at the Oberon Theater, in Cambridge along with Dayna Kurtz for a show based on his book. And from his home in Arlington, presumably full of records and children, Almond agreed to answer a few questions for Patch:

Patch: Exactly how many records would you estimate you have?

Almond: Gosh. Total (including tapes, CDs & digital) probably 5000. Maybe more. It's really hard to keep track. My wife would probably estimate more like a million.

Patch: What is the most embarrassing song (or two) in your collection or on your MP3 player(s)?

Almond: Oh, there's a lot to be embarrassed about. Styx, of course. And Toto. Some Pat Boone. Couple of boy bands, just for maximum shame. I'm all about street cred.

Patch: What bad things do you anticipate people saying about you as a result of this book?  What good things?

Almond:  Oh, people have been saying bad stuff about me for a long time. I lose track. But the basic criticism of the book will probably be: Oh, I hate this guy's taste in music. Which is fine. As you can tell, I kind of hate my own taste. But hopefully people also get that the book is a long love letter to musicians.

Patch:  Why do you bad mouth "Africa"?

Almond:  I'm not sure analyzing the lyrics to their biggest hit should count as "badmouthing." It's more like a critical inquiry. I mean, those are some epically awful lyrics, if you take them at all seriously. Also: I'm among the 90 percent of Americans who love the song.

Patch: How does your wife feel about her role in the book?

Almond: I'm not sure she wanted me to go into detail about her past with Kip Winger, but overall I think she's cool with it. A big part of our courtship was about us both being drooling fanatics.

Patch: Where in California did you grow up? What do you think of Arlington?

Almond: I grew up in Northern California, Palo Alto to be exact. It was a smaller, sleepier college town in those days, before the Silicon Valley boom. I miss those days. As for Arlington, I dig it. I'm a Somerville guy -- lived there more than ten years -- so I was worried I'd be moving out to the 'burbs. But it's a great place to have kids. And we keep having kids, so that's worked out.

Patch: Tell us a bit about this show you have coming up.

Almond: It's basically a musical version of the book. I'll read some passages, and have music playing in the background (and sometimes the foreground). Then, when I'm done, Dayna Kurtz will come and rock the house. The whole idea is to throw a great party.

For tickets to the show, visit the website.